Today we’d like to introduce you to Skinner Myers.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Skinner. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on April 22nd, 1980 to John Skinner Myers Junior and Helen Laverne Myers. I weighed seven pounds and twenty-one ounces. My mother had had a miscarriage before I was born, so she didn’t do anything too stressful during the pregnancy. My father was a pastor of a small church when I was born, and my mother helped where she could. We lived a quiet life until my brother Kevin Josiah Myers arrived on September 11th, 1981. I only had my parents to myself for about a year and a half. It seemed like a new kid showed up every couple of years after that.
I had a happy childhood for the most part. Like a lot of large black families in the ’80s, we grew up on government assistance. My father had left his pastoral duties in 1985 and became a full-time missionary, which did not come with a salary or health benefits. At some point as a child, I remember living with my grandparents and then in a hotel with my parents. At first, I thought living in hotels was normal, but as I got older, I realized it wasn’t. We did a lot of traveling as a family when I was a child. We spent a good amount of time in Texas and Mexico on missionary trips. It seemed like every other month I was getting pulled out of school to take a trip somewhere. The traveling was fun up until I reached high school.
In high school, I played football, basketball, tennis, and golf. At this point in my life, I knew how poor we were as a family. My brother and I shared the same clothes so it stung when kids would make fun of us for wearing the same outfit just days apart. The other thing I hated about high school was coming back from the Christmas holiday break where other kids would ask you what you got for Christmas. We never got a lot of gifts so kids would make fun of us for that. It was right around this time I started to retreat inward. I did not have a lot of friends and would spend time by myself drawing or doing other arts and crafts. Although I was good at basketball and played on the varsity team, my heart wasn’t completely in it.
After high school, I decided not to go to college right away, but instead travel a bit and try find odd jobs to make ends meet. I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida to live with some friends I knew down there. At first, I loved it. I slept in every day, worked at night, didn’t have mom or dad telling me what to do, but I soon wore out my welcome. I decided to give college a try and went to North Carolina State University for a semester. I only lasted one semester. I quickly boarded a greyhound bus for New York City with dreams of making it as an actor/model/musician.
Once in New York City, I soon discovered it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it would be. I ended becoming homeless for a stint. I lived off one dollar per day and would alternate between donut sticks at the bodega and Burger King chicken sandwiches. The last thing on my mind was how I was going to make it as an artist. All I could think about was not starving. I eventually found a job working at a restaurant in midtown and slowly climbed my way out of homelessness. I knew that to make it as an actor I had to eventually move to Los Angeles. After 9/11, I figured that was as good a time as any to move to another state. I packed my bags, bought a plane ticket, and arrived in Los Angeles on December 15th, 2001.
Los Angeles was a completely different city than New York City. You had to have a car to get around, which I didn’t have. I ended up crashing with a friend for a few months and eventually wore out my welcome. I took acting classes but never booked any acting jobs. I spent so much of my time trying to find money to pay for rent and food I couldn’t really focus on trying to make it as an actor. That would all change in 2003. I met the person who would become my wife that year and realized that I needed to make some big changes in my life. She had just been accepted into graduate school back in New York City, and I had to decide if we were going to do a long-distance thing or if I was going to go with her. I opted for the latter.
Being back in New York City after being absent for three years was a bit strange. I easily found a job as a waiter, but found myself bored. My wife spent all her waking hours in school, so we didn’t really see that much of each other. After a year of living our lives like two ships passing in the night, I decided to go back to school. I applied and was accepted into Columbia University where I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Japanese. Even after receiving my degree I still couldn’t find a well-paying job. The year was 2008, and the market had just crashed. I still wanted to be an artist, but I just didn’t see a way for me to do that at that time. So, I went to graduate school and got my Masters in International Affairs. It was the very thing that would lead me to the path that I’m on today.
In the last semester of my graduate school, I went to Uganda, Africa and made a feature-length documentary. That documentary would go on to get me into film school at the University of Southern California. My wife and I moved back to Los Angeles in 2012 and have never looked back. I’m currently a Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Film and Television Loyola Marymount University, and since film school, I have made eight films, written numerous scripts, a novel, and have two television shows in development with a major production company. I’ve finally found a way to be an artist and keep a roof over my head. It was a long journey to get where I am today, but in all honesty, my journey has just begun.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I have $420K dollars in student loan debt, and that has forced me to only takehigh paying jobs. I’m also a father of two wonderful and beautiful kids, but as a parent, my first goal is to provide for my family. I’m not complaining though. I live for my family and want them to be proud of the art that I make.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m a film professor and a writer/director. I’ve made quite a few short films that have played in a lot of festivals and have won a lot of awards. My short film Frank Embree won the Grand Jury Prize at Hollyshorts Film Festival in 2017 and ever since then bigger doors have been opening for me.
I always strive to tell stories about people who are underrepresented in society. I love languages so my feature scripts tend to have multiple languages spoken in them. I love the idea of creating stories that anyone in the world can relate to.
I’m known for dark, gritty, experimental films. As of two years ago, I made a vow to only shoot my films on film, and that’s something else I’m known for.
Also, I’m super proud of my new film I’m in pre-production on called КРАСОТА ГОРИТ THINGS OF BEAUTY BURN. We just launched our crowdfunding campaign on SEED AND SPARK, and if people want to donate they can go here:https://www.seedandspark.com/
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would not have taken out $420K dollars in student loans. Everything else I would keep the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.skinnermyers.com
- Phone: 3238074047
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigletfilmmaker/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SKINNER_
- Other: https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/things-of-beauty-burn-1#story
Image Credit:
Brian Ziff, Josiah Myers, Gabriel Honzik, Tyler Riggs, Cass Bird
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
